Republican to run for state treasurer

DENVER • A Republican businessman from Greenwood Village announced Tuesday that he was running for state treasurer in 2010, challenging the Democratic incumbent, Cary Kennedy.

Walker Stapleton, CEO of SonomaWest Holdings, a real estate company with offices in Colorado and California, said in announcing his candidacy that the Democrats who control the Treasury, the governor's office and the Legislature "have focused on nothing but higher spending, bigger government, more state workers - and assault after assault on taxpayers' rights."

Stapleton said he would defend TABOR.

His campaign released a long list of endorsers, including Bill Hybl, chairman of El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs.